Do any of you keep your dahlia tubers in-ground over the winter (under mulch etc.)? Wondering whether we’ll be warm enough for them to do well without the trouble of lifting, storing etc. For me this is in a slightly raised bed with reasonably good soil, not far from sea level, plenty of exposure, City of Courtenay.
Thanks!
I’ve left some in the ground in previous years. It’s mostly about drainage. One year, of 7 left in the ground, 4 rotted. The other three needed dividing. Agreed, dividing and storing is a lot of work, but the weather has been good enough that I can tackle 5-10 at a time and it’s relatively painless.
Yes, Steve, it is possible to leave your dahlias in ground over winter. We have had a lot of rain in the month of October so, at the moment, the ground is saturated. I would not recommend mulching them until we get a dry spell, or when the snow stays longer than an hour on the ground. The risk we have here on the Island is rotting tubers. If you have sandy soil or really good drainage, you should be okay. If water puddles in your dahlia bed after a soaking rain, you may want to pull them and store them.
Like the others, I’ve had mostly rotted tubers but a couple that lived. On the other hand one year I pulled them all out and they all shriveled up and die.
Thanks everyone. After digging them up (and scratching my head for a while, I’m new at this) I see that I have leafy gall. At least in the first two I pulled. =[
I might just leave the others in til Spring and see what I can see then.